Coal ministry orders probe into Lalmatia mishap

Coal minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday constituted a high-power committee to probe the Lalmatia colliery collapse after he was approached by Godda MP Nishikant Dubey in this regard.TNN | January 11, 2017, 09:04 IST

Dumka: Coal minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday constituted a high-power committee to probe the Lalmatia colliery collapse after he was approached by Godda MP Nishikant Dubey in this regard.

"The coal minister has constituted a high power committee to conduct a wider probe into the accident at Lalmatia colliery in Godda after the DGMS gave a clean chit to ECL," Dubey said, adding that he would be accompanying the team to Lalmatia on January 15.

Goyal's move came after Directorate General of Mines Safety gave a clean chit to Eastern Coalfields (ECL) on the accident. Dubey has been holding the ECL authorities and the outsourcing company responsible ever since the incident took place. The DGMS as well as the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, said they had already probed the instances of violation of safety norms.

"DGMS had earlier too inspected the Lalmatia colliery on many occasions before the fateful incident on December 29 which resulted in death of several workers. How can it now blame the ECL and the outsourcing company for violation of safety norms?" Dubey said, adding that the investigation by the committee, constituted by the coal minister, will submit its report directly to the ministry.

Though five persons still remain missing, Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) authorities on Mondaycalled off the rescue operation.

"The rescue operation has been halted due to technical reasons. If the rescue operation is continued, there are chances of accidents as there is strata movement on top of the mine," said ECL General Manager (Mining) R.R. Amitabh.

He said, "There are at least five bodies trapped inside the caved-in mine. The rescue operation will be re-started soon."

“To save the environment and to fight climate change, my government has planned a major campaign. By 2022, we want to generate 175 GW of renewable energy. In the last three years, we have already achieved 60 GW or around one-third of this target,” he said.